How to lay out your OPUS album
Download templates (if you need them)
The following applies whether you are producing a Print&Bind album, a Photo Art album or a Pics Book
Production of an album is very easy and in many ways I normally don't worry about the templates at all. Whatever program I'm using - dg Foto Art, Fotoslate4 or Photoshop I just make sure that there is a 1" binding pages. If double sided this will be on the left hand side for odd page numbers and the right hand side for even pages. If you have a background then it is best if that fills the whole A4 sheet.
However, if you want to use a template in - you may download them from here:
A short guide
We are indebted to Eric Kunsman of Bookmark Studio for this article. Eric is a world authority on the production of short run photographic books - based in Rochester NY.
Booksmart Studio’s Guide to Designing Your Opus
These instructions are provided as a basic instruction for utilizing the templates provided by Innova to help with the design and printing of one's OPUSalbum.com's Opus Album. The templates provided are a starting point for your design, they incorporate the space that will be cropped off for the gutter/hinge area. The Opus album is designed to give the user the artistic freedom to design and print a post-bound book in the comfort of their home or office. The purpose of this guide is only intended for aiding in design placement during layout and printing, this guide does not explain printing techniques or color management issues.
The templates provided are titled: albumlayout_front_pages.jpg & albumlayout_back_pages.jpg
The albumlayout_front_pages.jpg file is to be thought of as your pages that will be on the right side of your book often referred to as recto. The albumlayout_back_pages.jpg file refers to the left hand side of your book otherwise referred to as the verso.
Hint: File Format
The guides are currently saved as JPEG’s only to reduce the size for the Internet. Once you make changes, you must use a different file format such as a TIFF or PSD while saving. This will keep the image quality of your digital files intact with the highest quality you started with.
Step 1
To start working with the templates you will have to organize all the files you intend to incorporate into your Opus. Make sure all the files are resized to the dimension/size you wish to use them within your Opus and that their resolution is set to 300 ppi (often referred to as dpi.)
Step 2
Open the front_pages.jpg & back_pages.jpg files.
Step 3
Look at the templates for the blue guidelines. These guides are designed to show you the space that will not be a part of the final Opus page, this space will help to make the hinge area of the Opus. The illustrations below take this one step further by demonstrating these areas being virtually blocked out. Keeps this in mind as you start laying out your Opus, the middle/center of the book is not the middle of the paper.
Step 4
Design your Opus!
Step 5
Organize your files with your personal system to relate front & back per each sheet of paper. For example 1_f.tif can refer to the front of sheet one while 1_b.tif can refer to the back of sheet one. Save your files in TIFF or PSD file format.
Step 6
Print your Opus, while printing make sure you pay close attention to your Page Setup dialog box. Make sure that you are using the same orientation when printing either the front_pages or back_pages template. Finally, when removing the first printed sheet, simply flip the sheet of paper to make sure the non-imaged area is going to feed through your printer properly.
Hint: Take note of which side is the top of the page when the first print is coming out. When you flip your sheet over, the top of the design should oriented in the same location. Of course, you will not print on the same side so depending on your printer, the printed-side may be upside down with the top of the image in the same location in association with the printer.
The paper size is A4 for the Opus page
www.booksmartstudio.com ©Eric T. Kunsman
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